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The Chairman Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Comrade Oyinkuro Ereboh, has reacted to a statement by the Commissioner for Transport Bayelsa State, Mrs Grace Ekiotene, directing all transporters to reduce transport fare from all routs in the state.
The directive came after the incident that occurred where a commercial trycycle operator stabbed his passenger to death due to a disagreement on N50 fare and was also lynched by angry youth.
Comrade Oyinkuro Ereboh, in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Yenagoa sympathized with the victims of the unfortunate incident, he however described the commissioners directive as uncalled for insisting that the incident has nothing to do with generality of transportation fare in the state.
He said the state had been peaceful before that incident and wondered why anyone will want to link the incident with that of transportation fare when ordinarily there are other things that determine cost of transportation.
Ereboh, revealed how he had suggested for a regulatory committee to be set up to checkmate the hike of commodities so that it doesn’t affect transportation fare but it’s advised falls on deaf ears.
He said “,I made a suggestion that they should come out with regulatory body committee to regulate everything if they want transportation fare reduced,look at the prices we buy spare parts it’s expensive, police also will extort from you,when you go to the market you cannot buy food stuffs,everything expensive,you go to the filling station no way, so you just wake up and said you have given a directive.”
The RTEAN chairman, further called on the state government to revive the Bayelsa State Transport company so as to subsequently curb the increase in transportation rather than imposing a particular amount on transporters,adding that if government vehicles are on the road,with that the cost would had been controlled without imposition.
According to Ereboh,the step taking by the commissioner is not the solution to the problems, noting that he wouldn’t want any protest in the state,hence he’s going to write to the governor for fair hearing.
His word”What I want to do is to write to the government for fair hearing,I don’t want people to start protesting at this electioneering period,we know the appropriate channel to follow”.
He added that “If drivers starts protesting commissioner cannot control it, you don’t just impose on people,everybody has their policies,why can’t you revive the Bayelsa transport company? there are vehicles parked there, she should repair those busses and put it on the road”.
